I had two interview rounds. The first was with a tech recruiter and was quite standard, we discussed my background, experience, and expectations for the role. The second round was a technical interview, which was quite unusual. As preparation, I was asked to create my own AWS account and set up a payment method, which I found concerning since it could potentially lead to personal costs for candidates.
During the interview, I was given a complex task with a strict time limit of just one hour. I was expected to build a small frontend application using Vue.js, set up a Supabase database, connect both, deploy the app to AWS S3, and configure CloudFront. Although the use of AI tools was allowed, the timeframe made it difficult to implement clean, production-level code. I was working with AWS infrastructure and services, but could be even more frustrated for candidates who didn't work with AWS. I was able to complete the task within the hour and clearly explained areas where the code could be improved, such as handling credentials, and added comments and TODOs where appropriate.
The interviewer was very friendly and professional, but the outcome was frustrating. Despite completing the task under pressure, I received a standard rejection email without any feedback. Given the effort involved and the unusual nature of the assignment, the lack of explanation was disappointing.